Harpsichord after J. Couchet, 1679

The Couchet 1679 is a beautiful and very small instrument with a chromatic-bass 4 octave compass and a disposition of 8’, 4’, 8’ on two choirs of strings, with the two 8’ plucking the same string. Despite its very small size this harpsichord has an incredibly clear, round and powerful sound from the first note in the bass to the last in the treble.

The nice keyboard has bone naturals and cherry accidentals, and all the measurements such as balance point distance, key length and width have been copied from the original.

SPECIFICATIONS:

• Length: 188 cm
• Width: 74,5 cm
• Compass: C-c3, 49 notes
• Disposition: 8’, 4’, 8’
• Pitch: A=415-440 Hz

The basic version comes with a painted (one colour) case and varnished wood inside.

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Single Flemish ravalement

SPECIFICATIONS

• Length: 196 cm
• Width: 85 cm
• Compass: GG/AA-e3
• Disposition: 2×8’, buff stop
• Pitch: A=415-440 Hz

The design of this single Flemish comes from the 1679 Couchet, and actually the bridge and nut position and shape, c2 length and plucking point have been left unaltered. In order to have a higher number of keys and not make the instrument too wide, I’ve reduced slightly the spacing between the strings and the width of the single keys, and modified the length and width of the case. This ravalement has a compass of GG/AA-e3 with two 8’and a pitch of A=415-440.

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Double harpsichord after J. Ruckers, 1638

It seems that all the Ruckers doubles had the two keyboards at a distance of a fourth between each other. They actually were transposing harpsichords. Late in the XVIII century, especially in France, the two keyboards were aligned and the range extended, giving also them the possibility of being coupled. This process is known as Ravalement.

The original Ruckers 1638, today at the Russel Collection in Edinburgh, is the only surviving two manuals harpsichord from the Ruckers family with its keyboards in the original condition.
I personally designed  my own ravalement of this harpsichord enlarging the compass to GG-e³ (or FF/GG-f³), aligning the two keyboards and giving them a coupler mechanism. and a typical XVIII century disposition (8’, 4’, 8’).

SPECIFICATIONS:

• Length: 230cm
• Compass: GG-e³ or FF/GG-f³
• Disposition: 8’, 4’, 8’ and buff stop
• Transposition: A=392-415-440 Hz

The instrument in its basic version comes with a painted (one colour) case with golden frames and the inside of case and lid decorated with Flemish paper.